Shane van Gisbergen comes to NASCAR with a reputation for winning road races. And the longer he runs the cars, the more difficult it is to define him in one proper way.
And this could create an interesting possibility for Trackhouse Racing.
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With the 2028 NASCAR Cup Series season still more than a year away, van Gisbergen is already emerging as a driver worth watching in the next major sports around contract deals. According to Athletic Jordan Bianchi, some of NASCAR’s top organizations are taking notice.
Care makes sense. Van Gisbergen has proven that he can win in road races, and the oval-track event that was once seen as the biggest obstacle in his NASCAR career has steadily increased.
For parties looking at some times before, that is a compelling combination.
Shane van Gisbergen’s NASCAR Future Could Be Interesting
During a recent episode of “The Teardown” podcast, Bianchi van Gisbergen identified a potential driver of the 2028 market.
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“I’ll tell you what next year, his contract – well and everything, but basically free agent after 2017,” said Bianchi. “Okay. I’m telling you now, we’re looking at a little before 2028.”
Van Gisbergen doesn’t mean to leave Trackhouse. Contract options remain part of the equation and no agreement has been confirmed with any other organization.
But Bianchi believes rival teams are already considering what they could achieve with the New Zealander behind the wheel.
“SVG is somebody to watch. There are teams out there that are watching this guy go, big teams watching him go, ‘Man, we’re getting him in our cars.’ Like we’re better than Trackhouse. “We’re going to win the race some way.”
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There is an obvious attraction in adding a driver capable of delivering victories on tracks where other organizations might struggle. What makes van Gisbergen uniquely interesting, though, is that his potential value no longer begins and ends with those races.
Van Gisbergen gives NASCAR Teams something else to consider
Sunday’s Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway provided another example of how far van Gisbergen has come.
He finished seventh, ahead of several drivers on NASCAR’s considerably more used intermediate ovals. It was also his second consecutive top-10 finish in the mid-track Chase.
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Those results show that road racing success was never the biggest issue surrounding van Gisbergen’s move to NASCAR. His ability to compete on ovals was constant.
He begins to answer.
“He’s really, really good and doesn’t have the experience guys have,” Bianchi said. “Not even with a big team.”
Bianchi also asked what van Gisbergen would do with the organization performing at a higher level than Trackhouse is now.
That assessment comes at a potentially awkward time for the team.
Trackhouse is already facing significant questions about its future lineup. Ross Chastain’s contract situation is another story to watch beyond 2027, while Connor Zilisch has announced he will be moving to Hendrick Motorsports after next season.
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Van Gisbergen’s situation adds another layer of uncertainty, although there is no indication that he has given Trackhouse custody.
And there is still a lot going on between now and 2018.
But the conversation around van Gisbergen has changed. When he first arrived, the question was whether a competitive NASCAR oval driver could become a road racing star.
Now, rival organizations are wondering how it can become good.